(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and a broad coalition of good government, watchdog, labor, and national security organizations are calling attention to behind-the-scenes efforts by the White House to defy a broad, bipartisan consensus in Congress to strengthen whistleblower rights for federal employees.

(Richland, WA) – A judge from the Department of Labor (DOL) has found in favor of Richard Cecil, a terminated whistleblower, and against a Hanford contractor, Fluor Hanford, Inc. The judge found that Fluor had retaliated against Cecil and ordered Fluor to reinstate him, pay him back-pay, pay his attorney fees, and post a notice of its infraction throughout the Hanford Site.

The Government Accountability Project (GAP) today commented that the Bush administration’s ongoing “leak investigation,” opened to identify and prosecute the individuals who disclosed the existence of a domestic surveillance program, may violate a congressional spending ban commonly known as the “anti-gag statute.”

Morgan Stanley announced today that the SEC has now decided to take the testimony of Mr. John Mack in the Pequot investigation. The evidence pointed in this direction 13 months ago, evidence which Mr. Gary Aguirre shared with his supervisors at the time. When Aguirre suggested that a subpoena be issued for Mack’s testimony, his supervisor refused, stating that Mack had powerful political connections. Over the next two months, Aguirre informed every link in the chain of command of his supervisor’s decision. He had no success in obtaining their approval to take Mack’s testimony.